Friday, December 27, 2013

In a few days we’ll welcome in a new year.
Reflecting back, what kind of year was 2013? How closely did I keep track of all the events,
changes, disappointments or celebrations that have come and gone over the
months?

It wasn’t until reading my Facebook page
year end review that I really took stock of what has been happening in my life
in 2013.Looking back I can see where
the Lord’s favor has brought me through situations where nothing else would
have.

The television evangelism world was saddened
by the home going of Paul Crouch several weeks ago.Reading the comments online about his life I
clicked on to an interview he had made last December.Mr. Crouch said that looking back on his
entire ministry he could see the favor of God opening doors while closing
others.Every path he took he clearly
could see God’s hand in each move, when in past times it was questionable.

These
Things

There have been more times than I care to
admit that I have questioned God and wondered why “these things” were happening to me.The passage of scripture that I have posted on my refrigerator is one
that I lean on often.Without this point
of reference I could easily waver and lose faith, but it helps keep me grounded
so that I stay in God’s favor during those times when I question what He is doing in my life.

“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the
LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and He
shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”

The New King James version says it like this:

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the
goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your
heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!” (Psalm 27:13-14)

When we left our home state there was no way I
could see that it was God’s plan for us.Why would we have to leave everything and everyone we loved when things
were just getting started?

It wasn’t until 2010, six years after leaving
home that I would begin to realize that God was indeed behind what looked to be
heartbreaking events.

As we learned to lean on the Lord and trust
Him as our source for everything, “these
things” that were tests and trials were actually points where God was
trying to elevate us into new areas of faith.

The more people we met and talked to the more
we recognized it was God moving on the hearts of man to bestow favor, kindness
and generosity toward us. It was God acting on His word because we were willing to follow the call on our lives.

Ain’t
God Good?

There was an older lady of faith that had
difficulty in breathing and was on oxygen.No matter what she was going through at the time she would say, “Ain’t God good?”I would look at her and wonder how can she
say that, especially when I knew the rundown condition of her home, her lack of finances, poor health and being a widow.Yet, she always found a way of praising God,
and seemed to come through every trial victoriously.

What did this lady know that I didn’t know
about God?Why is it that people seem to
give her stuff all the time?Mrs. Pierce
learned about trusting God as her source and praised Him during the
storms of life as well as in calm times.

She believed God’s promises and called them
to His attention. I remember her doing it in prayer services, while we listened
and learned about the favor of God on a person’s life.

God was good and that was it.Anything that passed her path didn’t matter,
because God would work it out for His good and hers.

We started professing the same thing in our
church and as one would call out “God is good,” someone else would
answer saying, “All the time.” It didn't matter what was going on at the time. Someone else or even the Pastor would shout out, "God is good," even in the middle of a sermon or song. The congregation would respond "All the time."Once you
really get that down in your spirit, it’s easier to believe that something good
is going to come out of this horrible situation that you might be
experiencing.

This is one reason why the apostle Paul told
us to hold fast to our profession or confession to the words of the Bible that
we speak.Our profession leads to our
belief or unbelief.Changing the way you
think in your heart will change the way you act to the tests in life.Learning to respond to situations with confessions
printed in the Word of God really does change the outcome of circumstances when
you believe.(Reference "Hold fast")

We need to simply confess the word and profess it on a daily basis.

The
Goodness of God is Real

Our confession of the Word will take root in
our soul when we do it every day.When
we believe God's Word is real, it will work in our lives.Believing God at His Word will bring the manifestation of blessings and favor we need to carry out the plan He has for our lives.In order to fulfill our task, we must have God's favor and blessings on our life. We cannot complete our journey without it.

Last week our car needed more “healing” as I
call it.On Monday we needed to get some
final details finished for handing out gifts on Tuesday.While we were at the grocery store the car
began having major issues.It had been
making a noise and turned out to be the water pump.It was so bad we prayed our way home.

These problems caused my husband to lose work
and pay on Monday and Tuesday.Instead
of getting upset, with a smile on my face I simply said, “OK, Lord, how are you
going to make this up? What are you about to do?”

The next morning when my husband was leaving
for work there was an envelope with $40 in it on our front porch.We were totally surprised by who turned out to be the giver, but not by
what God had done to move on the person’s heart to do it. That made up for the
time he missed on Monday, but what about the entire day on Tuesday, plus all
the expense of the parts?

Thursday afternoon a gentleman told my husband
that God had blessed his business that year and he was giving everyone that
worked there a bonus.My husband doesn’t
work for the man, but contracted jobs for him.He handed him a $200 check.The
amount covered all the car parts and his missed time. The verse in Psalm 27 was real in our lives,
as we saw the goodness of God in the land of the living.

Favor
for Open Doors

Not everything went according to the way we
would have liked this year, but I can tell you that God always provided a way.

You may be facing some of the most
challenging situations you have ever experienced in your life.Let me encourage you that God is still in the
habit of opening doors of favor to His children.

As you begin the New Year, start it with
favor on your mind.Ask God to show you
ways to bestow blessings on others so He can do the same in your life.

5 Things
you can do:

1: Look for new opportunities to give where you
didn’t in the past. Places beyond your church where you give your tithes and offerings. Ask God to show you where He wants you to sow a seed.2. Volunteer in an area outside of your expertise so you can
truly learn to be a servant (otherwise you may think it is your skills and not
God).Keep in mind though that God does
use us in our skilled areas to be of service to others as well.

If God is going to shower you with His
blessings, He has to know that you will be willing to be a blessing to others.We have to be willing to serve, give and
bless at all times even if blessings don’t come our way or no one is helping
you.A servant’s heart must be toward
God’s will and not their own.He will
exalt you in due time if you remain faithful regardless of the situation or
circumstances.

3: Stop looking to people as your source and
seek God for everything.Although He
does use people to be blessings, don’t come to expect them from the sources
that you relied on in the past.If we
continually go to the same people to bail us out of a situation, then we are
depending on them as our source and not God.We really aren’t acting on faith then.

4: Be willing to walk through the valley with
God so He can lead you to the mountain top.Spend more quiet time with the Lord and get to know and understand His
ways.Sit back and watch Him work out a
situation as you fully rely on Him.

5: Believe that the Lord is leading you into
deeper paths along your faith journey as He shows you great and mighty things
you did not know. (Reference Jeremiah 33:3)

It's time to return to God ... time to go back to His favor so the Kingdom of the Lord can be built.The year 2014 is the year of Journey.It will be one that brings great excitement
and blessings for those who truly put their trust in Him as their source.God will open doors of favor, opportunities
you never would have imagined and He will take you to places that were not part
of your plan. Remember ...

Friday, December 20, 2013

Chatting with a few friends they expressed
all the activities they had to cram into a short amount of time in order to be
ready for Christmas.The to-do list
seems to get longer each year, leaving hardly any room for rest they confessed.

Later in the week while listening to a radio
broadcast, I was reminded of how easily Christians get caught up in the
festivities, so much so that we have missed Christmas.What's on your Christmas bucket list?Those who celebrate Christmas usually have a
run-down of things they want to do for the holidays.Maybe your list looks similar to this:

By the time the list is finished, who has
energy to enjoy the holidays?There’s no
“God rest ye merry gentlemen” around my house with so much to accomplish.

Have all these things caused us to miss the
true meaning of Christmas?We spend more
time making sure we get the right gift and leave no time for witnessing about
the One who is Christ-mas (Christ the Messiah).Where Did the Day Go?It’s easy to get caught up in pleasing others
or doing things to ease our conscience at this time of year.Perhaps you go out of your way to do
those special things for people and they don’t even notice it.Or maybe you’re a person who invites a lot of
people over for the holiday by throwing an enormous party, only to have an
emotional let-down after it ends.All
your hard work wasn’t appreciated, people came, ate and went home leaving you
with the mess as well.

Christmas for you certainly wasn’t “tidings
of great joy,” but work, work and more work leaving little time for fellowship
or relaxation.There you were, a by-stander watching
Christmas slip away causing you to miss what was right under your nose.

Let me share something with you.Forget brow beating yourself, people have
been missing the real Christmas as far back as the very first one.How to Miss Christmas, Big Time

I have to admit that I have been guilty of
activity overload.Many years ago my
schedule was so full there wasn’t any room left for Christmas.

As soon as my teaching resumed each September
we put up the outside lights. In October we took a 4 day mini vacation to the
Adirondacks in New York over Columbus weekend. Baking began and inside the house
decorating was next, because I decorated everything! All shopping had to be completed
by Veteran’s Day (November 11th), especially things that needed to be shipped anywhere. Birthdays were abundant from that
time up until and including Christmas day.

Weekly choir rehearsal, along with the cantata
play practice were taking place also.Teach during the day, college classes 2 times a week for another degree,
parties, social events and finally the end of the activities came on December
26th with a big family gathering at our house.We maintained this ridiculous schedule for
years until we realized we had been missing Christmas doing Christian things.

I have watched a lot of people doing
religious activities like I was in preparation for the year end celebrations.Were they doing what I did? Are they missing
out on the meaning of the holiday?Do
any of the things really make a difference in the scheme of life?Have we become like the religious leaders in
Jesus’ time and neglected what God is doing around us? These are the things I have begun to question in my own life.

Millions of people will assemble in churches
expecting to hear a Christmas message.What will they receive?Will the
focus be on us or on pointing the lost toward God in hopes that they may come
to the saving knowledge of Christ Jesus?

Failing to understand that Christmas is about
relationship to God means we have missed Christmas, and if we do that, we have
missed Christ.Those Who Missed Out

The Bible gives us a record of events that
took place leading up to and including the Birth of Jesus.Matthew’s account (chapter 2:4-6) verifies that Joseph and Mary had made the long trip back to his
homeland of Bethlehem to fulfill the census ordered by the King.

It’s hard to comprehend that there was a time
that the scriptures were not available to all people, but that was the case.Throughout time there have been religious
leaders, history scholars, interpreters of scriptures and transcribers
(linguists) of the Holy scrolls who copied the Word of God for others to
read.These men were summoned by Herod
for a meeting, because word had gotten back to him about a new king, a Messiah
that was born.Oh no, was he going to be
replaced?

Quickly they searched the scriptures and
found the prophecy of the prophet Micah (5:2).It read that a new king would be born in Bethlehem indeed.The kicker here is that once they had this
information, none of them walked the measly three miles from Jerusalem to
Bethlehem to check out if the prophecy had come true.

If anyone shouldn’t have missed Christmas it
was these “religious” men.After all,
they already believed the prophet and the scriptures. Besides the shepherds and perhaps some
of the people traveling with them, there is no evidence that anyone else came
to worship the King Jesus.Here they
believed God, but didn’t follow after Him.What God was fulfilling in their life time didn’t really concern them.Is there another?

King Herod the Great

How is it possible for Herod to inquire about
the Messiah, get his answer, believe there was a new born King and never find a
way to go and actually go see Him?

Matthew 2:7-9 explains what Herod did after
he received his traveling visitors known as Wise Men or lesser Kings of other
lands. When these gentlemen arrived at the palace they openly asked Herod where
the King of the Jews was so they could go worship Him. (Reference

)

Herod being a jealous and wicked ruler gave
orders that would prevent anyone else including his family from overthrowing
his throne by having them all murdered.He
went on to declare that all male children under the age of two be killed just to
make sure that no one was left to fill his shoes.Fear and jealousy caused Herod to miss
Christmas.

At the time of his demise another command
was put into action. The unruly ruler was so hated that he ordered that leaders
be gathered together in the city and had them murdered making sure there would
be mourning in the place. Even though it
wasn't for him, it would appear as if it were.Some of us might think a person like this doesn’t deserve Christmas
anyway and got what he had coming to him.

I know it’s hard for us to accept, but Jesus
was born to die, and he came to earth for King Herod as well as the shepherds,
you and me.People Like Us

Streets of Bethlehem

Most of the people who celebrate Christmas
probably fall into this category.I know I
did. We don’t mean for the major event to go unnoticed, but it happens.Somehow we become Christmas Martha’s and need
for it to be called to our attention before we notice what we’re doing.

Ordinary people going about the business of
the day, caring for families, working, attending services and socializing are
distractions that cause us to miss worshipping the KING of Kings.

Let me use the owner or inn caretaker that
the Bible mentions in Luke chapter 2, during the time of the birth of
Jesus.Bethlehem was hopping with
thousands of travelers returning to their homeland to report for a census.The King of Palestine had order it, so no one
was exempt. (Reference

)

With the city being jam packed inn keepers (hotels)
were up to their ears with guests.They
had the responsibility of tending to patrons, their animals, getting rooms
ready, money exchanges, meals, lodging and caring for their own families.

By the time Joseph and Mary arrived the rooms
were simply gone.It is assumed that
Joseph had the money to pay for a room, but it didn’t matter.Money or not, nothing was available.

Taking writer’s liberty I can imagine the
master observed Mary’s condition.Being
a warm night the animals were still out to pasture and having compassion he offered
the empty stable as a last resort.Who
knows, maybe Joseph had to pay for the use of the stall, we don’t know.

What we do know is that the person in charge
didn’t have a clue what was happening out his own door. He was right there in the middle of the
greatest event to have event taken place on earth up to that time. Didn’t he
hear the angels or shepherds?How did he
miss the glowing light from Heaven or angels declaring the arrival of the
baby?If he saw any of this, don’t you
think someone would have mentioned it?

There is nothing in scripture to lead us to
believe this person wasn’t a kind, giving sort.The reality of it all is that he was too busy and involved with “Martha type
things” to notice, and therefore missed the first Christmas.Do you think he ever regretted it?Years later did he sell tickets to see where
the Christ child was born?Back to the Manger

Throughout the entire announcement of the
Messiah’s arrival, the Bible records worship as the main focus. Believers in God
weren’t surprised by this event, they were expecting it.

John the Baptist’s parents Elizabeth and Zacharias
were found worshipping, the angels worshipped when Jesus was born, the
shepherds, Simeon, Anna, Joseph and even Mary worshipped the Lord, rejoicing
and proclaiming baby Immanuel as the One that was prophesied to be the Messiah.
(see Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2)

The desire to worship the KING of the Jews
went on for two years or more until the Wise Men finally found the babe to
offer sacrificial gifts.

It's Time for A New Activities List

In understanding that we have fallen into the
trappings the holiday season brings, what can we do to avoid missing the main
event? How can we have a "Mary" Christmas in a "Martha" world?

First, start worshipping the King of Kings.Make
sure that you have not left out the Christ in Christmas by creating a new list
of things you won’t do this year.Cross
out anything (I mean anything) that will prevent you from worshipping the
Lord.Stop worshipping the activities
instead of the Almighty.Second: Begin by Recognizing Favor

Like Mary the mother of Jesus, begin your
holiday with focusing on the new born KING.Celebrate the gift from God with singing as Mary did, in your home and in
church. (Mary’s song Luke 1:46-55)It’s time to get excited and aware of God’s
favor on your life. Mary praised God for favoring her over all others in
allowing her to give birth to His Son.

“Rejoice, highly favored one, he Lord is with you; blessed are you
among women.” (Luke 1:28 NKJV)

That’s major!Think about it, she was chosen over all humans to carry out the task of
bringing Jesus into the world. (Luke 1:28)Third: Fully Surrender to the Call by Sacrificing Self

When receiving the good news, immediately
Mary fully surrendered her life to her Heavenly Father. She didn’t even
question Him or consider the events that would take place causing her to be an
outcast in her culture and community.She sacrificed her life, dreams and desires willingly and felt blessed
to be used by God.

What are you willing to sacrifice to God as a
thanksgiving offering for favoring you?

Will you respond to the Lord as Mary did
without questioning the assignment that may alter your life forever?“Be it unto me… Let it be according to Your
word.” (from Luke 1:38)

You may not realize it, but all children of
God are a “type” of Mary. God has
chosen, favored you above anyone else for a certain mission that no one else
can do. He has selected and called you out from among the billions of people
ever to have walked this planet to do a special thing for Him.How do I know this?God said that He has good plans for “you.” This must mean something is on His agenda
concerning each of His children.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD,
thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a (good) future and a hope.”
(Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV)Stuffing Christmas in with ThingsWith Christmas right at our backdoor, our
lives may look like those decorative stockings we stuff little gifts into if
we’re not careful.When we concentrate
on all the outward things of Christmas, the true meaning of it gets stuffed in
with all the non-essentials and is only brought out at the end of the activity.

We can miss Christmas by letting the blessing
of the Savior’s birth get packed in with the gifts, decorations, banquets or
hoop-la of the season. Don't let this happen to you.

Make sure all the
preparations don’t keep you from going to church.Join together with fellow believer’s and
welcome friends or neighbors to church as you worship and celebrate the birth
of the Savior. A KING is born, rejoiceCHRIST-mas is here!

Friday, December 13, 2013

Peeking out my porch blinds I can see my husband
trying to shovel the car out of the driveway. … looks like no one is going
anywhere in a hurry … not on this Saturday afternoon anyway.The town is shut up tight.

It’s beautiful
with all the snow.Things look so
peaceful and calm.Quiet, I love how
quiet it is.

With a sweeping
glance from left then right of my view, I can see my neighbor Mike a few houses
down. He is shoveling his truck out from the snow and ice.Maybe he’s getting ready to go to work.Sad to see Bob’s house empty; can’t believe
it’s already been 2 years he’s been gone.Guess the Morgan’s won’t be back for a few days, at least until after
the snow slows down.

Hmm … that’s
unusual. Mike just waved without stopping to chat.He didn’t even ask if we needed a ride
somewhere. Hope everything is OK.

I Wonder

Do any of us really know what the
other is going through right now, at this very moment in their life?I wonder about that, especially when I stop
to look at the crowd around me.

Have you ever
sat in a department store or any place for that matter, and just observed?What exactly is going on all around you?What are people doing … where are they going
… is everything all right in their world?

If we thought about it I suppose it would be depressing.Maybe that’s why people don’t get involved
much anymore.I wonder.

What Tweaks Your Bud?You know, what things really bother you?

Later in the day I had a chance to
talk to my sister.So much has happened
in her world that it’s not always easy to find God’s favor.We were talking about the holidays and
Christmas cards.I love getting cards
and hanging them up in my home.People
aren’t sending them like they used to in the past.“Everything” is going up they say.Cards aren’t on the priority list these days.

Sis shared with
me the last Christmas they were together.Her husband was in the hospital undergoing treatment for cancer and
other related things as a result from the medications.

While he was
there he asked my sister to get the cards finished so they could mail them out
that week.Not having a moment to spare
with work and taking care of him, she decided to bring them to the hospital so
they could do them together.

One of the
things that tweaked her bud was the fact that he never put a stamp on
straight.That really annoyed her,
especially when he did it with their wedding invitations one year earlier.Now he was doing it again, only this time it
was worse.Stamps weren’t just crooked,
but all over the envelope … in the middle, top, upside down … they looked
awful.

This time she
didn’t hold her peace like she did with the wedding announcements.When she finally expressed her feelings about
the crooked stamps his reply was, “I
don’t care about the stamps. I’m trying to stay alive!”Quickened by the Holy Spirit she quietly
replied, “You’re right.” and never
again mentioned the way he applied a stamp to anything.It didn’t matter anymore.

Time went by and …

Our conversation was lengthy as we
discussed work, gift shopping, family, her friends and especially
holidays.As I conveyed my own feelings
and gave words of encouragement, she didn’t realize that her words were giving
me strength the whole time.

Moving back to
the cards, she paused and her voice grew softer as she mentioned the receiving
of one in the mail that day.“I miss those crooked stamps.”

A simple card
with postage made her remember that it’s the little things that make the
biggest memories.

Crossing Over

GG (left) and Mocha

Our hearts were heavy
that night.Neither my husband nor I got
much sleep as we were tearfully watching a little four pound rescue cat slowly
slipping away.His tiny kidneys had
failed, but love was keeping him here.He
wasn’t diagnosed correctly until a few weeks ago, due to the fact that it’s
hard to detect this in a young cat.

We had prayed
for God’s mercy and were waiting to see what would happen.Another cat but much older, was undergoing
the same medical treatment and was responding.The two of them were “juiced-up” and fed together several times a
day.

They were
enjoying all the attention and getting special food to boot!Neither ate very much, because the smell of
food to a cat with kidney failure makes them nauseous so they actually
starve.They both tried so hard to eat
something, but sores on the tongue make it difficult to swallow. It’s often a symptom of kidney disease in animals.

After treatments
I would try to hold each cat, but for G it was too painful.We ended up taking away the bed and used
boxes with lots of warm fleece blankets to keep them warm. Heating pads were
not an option because of the medication. In their weakened state they often
couldn’t use the potty and wet right though the linens several times a day.

G
was sitting right by me with his head facing the back of the
box.He tried to turn around, but had no
strength.I knew why.He had begun crossing over.

As I talked with
my sister she had no idea that I was in tears, but still hopeful that little G
would be alright.

Morning came and my husband gave him
his medication and IV under the skin treatment.GG (that’s what we called him) didn’t move.

This application
was extremely difficult with no skin to really grasp to insert the needle. His skin was so thin that sometimes the needle
shot through to the other side with the liquid squirting out all over the
table.It was as if there was this tiny
creature in plastic wrap covering a handful of bones that were somehow
connected.

Nestled in a
fluffy, green fleece blanket, within a few hours G’s journey was completed.

Impartation of Favor through Grace

My sister didn’t know what happened
until the next day.She asked me why I
didn’t say anything.I explained to her
how God’s grace sustained me so that I could be able to minister to her at that
moment.

In turn, she
ministered to me, helped me to laugh and I felt blessed that God allowed me to
be a part of His plan (even in the difficult things).Those crazy crooked stamps stuck with me the
rest of the week.

In my devotional
time I came across this passage from 1 Peter 5:10 in the Amplified Bible.

“And after you have suffered a little while,
the God of all grace (Who imparts all blessing
and favor), Who has called you to His (own) eternal glory in Christ Jesus,
will Himself complete and make you
what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you.”

Those words from
the Lord gave me life, renewed hope and strengthened me so I could be a
blessing to someone else in order to establish His plan in my life.It didn’t stop what I was experiencing, but
God’s grace was sufficient (enough) to do what it needed to at that time.

but My Grace ...

“But
He (Jesus) said to me (Paul), My grace (My
favor and loving-kindness and mercy)is
enough for you (sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the
trouble manfully); for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and
completed) and show themselves most effective in (your) weakness.

Therefore,
I will all the more gladly in my weakness and infirmities, that the strength
and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and
dwell) upon me! (2 Corinthians 12:9 Amplified Bible)

Caring for “hospice” animals is
difficult, but my sister was also in pain emotionally dealing with patients on
a daily basis that are coping with what her husband endured for a season.

Seriously, how
does one stay strong day after day working in the same hospital, with the same
doctors, going in the same rooms that her husband was in for their last
Christmas together? It’s by God’s gift of grace applied when and where we need
it that sustains us through it all.

The clients
didn’t know what my sister was experiencing in her heart, they had no idea she
was a new widow.To them, she was
“staff.”It would take the impartation
of God’s favor on both our situations to keep our faith from wavering.

Who Really Knows?

Yesterday my husband shared with me
about a female intern that was, how do I put this?Well, she was bald. The first thing that came
to my mind was, “Is she sick or in
treatment?”Why else would a young
woman not have her head covered in this cold weather? He didn’t know, but said he wasn’t about to
ask.

I wondered about
her world and if she was just being fashionable, making a statement or maybe
she really was ill.Were the “stamps in
her life” in her reality crooked, and did it matter?We never know, do we?No, but thankfully Jesus does. He is fully
aware of every situation, every moment of every day and ready to dispense grace
on His children.

Words of Beauty that Bring Life

Over the weekend I had a lot to
think about in my own “crooked stamp” world.Through all the testing, trials and sorrow the rainbow of blessing still
hung over my dwelling.

With each gift of a new day I asked the Lord, “Who do You want me to encourage during this
holiday season?”

Is there someone
who needs to hear wonderful words of life to help them get through difficult circumstances
they may be facing at this particular time of the year?

Not everyone is
having a holly jolly Christmas season, for various reasons whether they are
believers or not.My neighbors had no
idea of what was going on behind our doors last week, and I only knew what they
had shared with us.

The same goes
for everyone you meet throughout your day, whether it is at work, in the store,
the doctor’s or at the post office.“Crooked
stamps” are going out all around us, but do we notice.Even more, do we care?

The heart-to-heart I had with my
sister last week didn’t stop there.It
continued all week through conversations I had with others.

Word seeds of hope and joy were scattered far
beyond my own place, and planted all over the world by word of mouth, messaging
or the Internet.

Someone is in
need of a grace hug today; it may
even be a family member. Will you be the one to give it with beautiful and
wonderful words of hope that bring life?

Be more
understanding, show compassion, be slow to judge and ready to help.

With the snow,
work, home and care giving of animals I haven’t gotten my Christmas cards
mailed, but I plan on it. Grace hugs or
seed words of encouragement may be in those cards, and you know what? I may
even have some go out with crooked stamps!

Maybe
you don’t know the Living God that I know, but would like to have this kind of
favor in your life also.Click on the
above tab “Tell Me” for
more information on becoming a child of the Savior.

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Scripture reference was taken from the New King James Bible Version provide by Gateway Bible